François Englert and Peter Higgs Win Nobel Prize in Physics

Scientists' Theory Confirmed by Detection of Higgs Boson Particle

Francois Englert and Peter Higgs received the 2013 Nobel Prize in physics for their work on the so-called Higgs mechanism. Gordon Kane, professor of physics at the University of Michigan, explains why their work is so important to our understanding of the universe. Photo: AP

Peter Higgs and François Englert shared the Nobel Prize in physics for independently proposing a particle, now known as the Higgs boson, that confers mass to all other particles and whose recent discovery stands as one of the seminal moments of modern science.

François Englert and Peter Higgs won the 2013 Nobel Prize in physics. They received the award for their work on the "Higgs mechanism," which was proposed in 1964 as a theory to explain how mass is conferred to elementary particles.

Though widely expected, the Nobel award is also a controversial one, partly because several other scientists—and CERN itself—can claim significant credit for work done on the boson. A Nobel Prize can be shared by a maximum of three people and isn't granted posthumously.

Dr. Englert, a Belgian who is 80 years old, published his landmark 1964 paper with colleague Robert Brout, who died in 2011. Other strong contenders were three scientists— Carl Hagen of the University of Rochester, Tom Kibble of Imperial College and Gerald Guralnik of Brown University—who published a very similar theory just a month after Dr. Higgs of the U.K. published his paper, which affixed his name to the fabled particle for posterity.

"I'd be lying if I said it doesn't sting a little" not to share in the prize, Dr. Guralnik, 77, said in a phone interview. "No matter what, [the Nobel committee] had a difficult time" in choosing the winners. But, he added, "we are amazed and delighted that our mathematical exercise turned out to play a huge part in describing how nature works."

In a statement, Dr. Higgs, of the University of Edinburgh, congratulated "all those who have contributed to the discovery of this new particle."

The Higgs boson explains a big puzzle about matter concerning why some objects in the universe such as the quark, a constituent of protons, possess mass, while others, such as the photon, a constituent of light, have only energy and zip around the universe unhindered.

Until this enigma was resolved, physicists couldn't properly explain why many things in the universe exist, from stars and planets to germs and people.

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Dr. Higgs and others explained away the problem by proposing a ghostlike field that pervades the universe—space, after all, is already filled with other invisible fields, such as the gravitational field and electromagnetic field.

The scientists' notion was that particles acquire mass only in contact with this field, which would become known as the Higgs field. How much mass they acquire depends on the type of particles they are. Some, like the photon, seem to ignore the field and don't acquire mass at all.

By contrast, electrons interact with the field. If the field were to disappear, the suddenly massless electrons would zoom away at the speed of light—and all matter would collapse.

"The Higgs field is always there," said Dr. Guralnik. "It slows down the particles and induces a mass to them."

The Higgs boson and its associated field neatly filled a potentially embarrassing hole in one of the most successful theories of physics, known as the standard model. But it was only a theory. It took half a century for the physicists' bold theoretical leap to be confirmed by experimental science.

Last year, hundreds of scientists assembled at CERN, and others tuned in to a live webcast, to hear a report on the latest data from the Large Hadron Collider. The quest for the elusive Higgs had involved some 6,000 scientists, cost millions of dollars and required billions of particle collisions. "I think we have it," said Rolf-Dieter Heur, CERN's director general.Dr. Higgs, now 84, received a round of applause when he entered the auditorium, and shed a tear on hearing the news. He was heartened that his main finding had been so concretely and dramatically confirmed.

ENLARGE

François Englert, left, spoke with Peter Higgs at a news conference on July 4, 2012, at European Organization for Nuclear Research offices in Meyrin near Geneva.
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

"It is an incredible thing that it has happened in my lifetime," he said.

"The miracle of the standard model is that it works so well," said Dr. Guralnik. "But we have many, many open questions, such as [the mystery] of how gravitational interactions occur."

The Nobel Prize in physics is seen as the most prestigious award of its kind, and comes with an 8 million Swedish kronor ($1.25 million) cash award. The winner is selected by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, after a process in which thousands of scientists world-wide are invited to name contenders.

In addition to the above, one more thought: We agree that the kinetic energy of a body is (1/2)mv2. The very maximum to which it can reach is (1/2)mc2. When another body of equal mass is accelerated in the opposite direction, its maximum energy shall also be (1/2)mc2. When the two collide, the total energy that for an instant is brought together cannot at maximum be other than mc2. When the two particles are electrons, and upon collision produce a myriad particles as seen in the pictures released from CERN, we are honor bound to conclude that these resultant particles are indeed SMALLER than the two original electrons, which so far are the smallest particles we really "know".

Mass is one physical dimension. Velocity is the quotient of two other physical dimensions: (length/time). The total mother mass involved is that of the two electrons, and cannot mysteriously increase. If each spark "photographed"(?) represents a new particle, such a particle cannot be considered to have been massless before the collision of the two electrons, unless we do show, and not merely assert based on pure man-made theory, (a) that massless particles do indeed exist and (b) that there can be no-mass-having particles smaller than the electrons! As such proofs have NOT yet been produced at CERN or elsewhere, going all the way down the scale, we really have yet no option other than saying that the true fundamental particles are none other than the as yet experimentally undiscovered Democritean atoms; forcing the additional question as to whether each spark represents just a one only or, rather, a group (of as yet haphazard size) of Democritean atoms.

With all these questions still unanswered, all the huge fuss raised about the Higgs boson cannot reasonably be justified!

I must confess that all this still continuing talk about the so-called Higgs boson leaves me totally unimpressed!:1. Originally, how many Higgs bosons were there? One or more??? Where, when and how did it, or they, acquire their own mass from??? 2. How big was it, or they? 3. How long did the original (one or more) Higgs boson(s) last before it (or they) disbursed/dispersed, as it is claimed, its (or their) own mass(es)??? 4. How long ago did all that is claimed happen???5. What exactly was indeed the physical nature of the massless particles before they stole, or were given, the mass they thus later began to exhibit as their own??? 6. How do we know, or are obliged, reasonably-and-scientifically to accept as true, that such particles ever truly existed, when indeed such an operation cannot but have preceded all that we know about the universe as we so painfully we have learned over the millennia???7. The universe we know obeys certain laws that we know not, or we refuse to think, about how and by whom they were imposed on it. 8. Reasonably, we must accept it as true that the universe of the one or more original Higgs bosons also obeyed different, its own, laws. So:9. How did it come about that things did indeed change so very-very-very drastically?????? And lastly: 10. How can we trust the claim that the universe, as we so far have learned to understand it, can indeed revert to a state (indeed claimed to have happened at CERN) that existed, if indeed it did, before it began to show the nature it exhibits following the occurrence of such a "physical" yet pre-physical event that is now claimed to have happened before the beginning of the universe as we now supposedly "understand" it???

Before, at least, these questions are satisfactorily answered, all this talk about this "Higgs boson" cannot but must be taken with the most extreme reservation!!! Or else, we mutely confess we purposefully, for a deliberately undisclosed "reason" abandon the Reason on which we so far have and still base at least our scientific activities and claims!!!

I have just edited my Facebook Note title from "Has Something Been Holding …" to "What Would Hold … " And a new sentence has been inserted near the end saying Higgs won the Nobel Prize. It was inserted thusly, but not in all caps: "Stephen Hawking said that he lost 100 dollars betting the Higgs boson wouldn't be found. NOW HIGGS HAS WON THE NOBEL PRIZE. If Hawking paid already, he may have lost the 100 dollars, but he hasn't lost the bet yet." See: What Would Hold Back the Search for the Higgs Boson?https://www.facebook.com/notes/reid-barnes/what-would-hold-back-the-search-for-the-higgs-boson/430347917017788

This Nobel prize is the same kind that was given to Obama some years ago. It's for mere propaganda schemes. But to really investigate, the Higgs field or Higgs boson was never really identified nor discovered with all other events happening inside LHC you don't really define what is as decays happen in mili-seconds! But they need the fake nobel prizes.

This is a lay perspective, so please, someone educate me if I am wrong. But basically, these guys took an equation that was 98% of the way there, lumped all of the remainder together, named it for themselves, and said we have it. And oh by the way, there are not instruments precise enough to measure if this particle ever actually exists.

And for this they were given a Nobel Prize for Science (maybe literature would have been more appropriate?).

Unless I am mistaken, science is about obtaining unbiased empirical evidence to validate or invalidate a hypothesis. In order to do that you need to have knowledge of cause without which all you have is speculation. Such is the case with the Higgs boson. By their own admission it is not technically feasible for them to know which selection event caused which collision effect which caused the decay products they have used as evidence for this 'discovery'. Look into it for yourself if you truly want to know the facts, otherwise, who is fooling who?

Nobel Committee A Big Joke“I fail to understand how the Nobel Prize in physics 2013 was announced on the basis of the paradigm which is under standing open challenge. It is painful to see that Nobel Committee upholds the paradigm of physics which has been mathematically, theoretically & experimentally shown to be fundamentally incorrect. Standing open challenge could be seen at World Science Database & General Science Journal in my profile at http://www.worldsci.org/php/index.php?tab0=Abstracts&tab1=Display&id=6476&tab=2 and http://gsjournal.net/Science-Journals/Essays/view/4018I agree with Mohammad Khan that the award of the Nobel Prize for the theory of the Higgs boson is unjustified. The Higgs apparition is alleged to be composite, made up of 'higgsinos'. This is all nonsense. (Steve Crothers)

Success is great, but ANTICIPATED success is greater still!!! Hope that one stays lodged in the Nobel peace committee throat for awhile. Must be a disappointment in light of Guantanamo, the NSA, FISA, Wiki leaks, Snowden, spying on Brazil (and others) and so on............................................

Glad to see a couple of smart, hard working people recognized for their substantial and verified contributions to the human race.

The graphic on which countries and institutions have produced the most Nobel laureates is enlightening. The University of California alone has produced more than Harvard, more than the UK, more then Germany, and more than all Other Countries combined. UC's Nobel laureates are outnumbered only by the United States.

The University of California remains the best place in the world to do genuinely important original research.

Just keep in mind the simple fact that there has 'never' been or 'ever' will be an experiment conducted without a selection 'first' taking place. Effects (particle collisions) are NOT causal. Yet that is exactly what they used (particle collisions) as the cause for their evidence (decay products) to support their 'discovery'. Look into it for yourself if you wish to be knowledgable about who is fooling who.

As a theoretical physicist told me earlier this year in response to the Higgs boson omission error findings, "Don't worry about those tax dollars much... These dollars are printed by the governments. What would you rather have these scientists do for a living?" This about sums it up. Science takes second position when it comes down to the money... sad to say.

You are right Peter and it can be proven. After two hundred years of qualified presidents the country failed miserably in it's prediction that a person that had never accomplished anything ever was qualified. Five years on and except for divisiveness, class warfare, and a total lack of leadership he still hasn't done anything worthwhile.

" ...they cannot measure this particle ..." -- It HAS been measured already, by two independent experiments. Read the ATLAS and CMS papers, OK? With more data in the years to come, we'll eventually know everything about it.

"I know God created the universe" -- Yeah, right. The Universe cannot "simply exist". Therefore, it must have been created by God -- who "simply exists."

"And oh by the way, there are not instruments precise enough to measure if this particle ever actually exists."

Nonsense. You obviously don't have the slightest idea of how short-lived particles are detected or how their properties are measured. We know the mass of the Z boson (~91.2 GeV) to an accuracy of 0.002%, even though its life-time is only ~3x10^(-25) sec -- much shorter than the time it takes for light to travel across a small nucleus. The Higgs has a similar mass (~125 GeV), and lives much longer than the Z. The difficulty in detecting the Higgs has nothing to do with the precision of the instruments; it has everything to do with the production cross-section and other things you know nothing about.

Agreed - What a wasted life to spend it filled with so much hatred for a man who wants to provide jobs and health care for the common man and woman instead of more wealth and power for the corrupt rich.

University of California alone has produced more than Harvard, more than the UK, more then Germany, and more than all Other Countries combined. UC's Nobel laureates are outnumbered only by the United States. . University of California remains the best place in the world to do genuinely important original research"------------This list combines all areas, not just "hard" sciences", and I didnt attempt to sort that out:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_university_affiliation

So UC Berkeley is #6, UC San Diego #28. If you combine them as one entity they'd be higher, but is that really a relevant metric? For all practical purposes they are separate & independent campuses.

Taking into account size, UC "system" is also by far the largest of those listed:All Academic staff c.19,000Students c. 237,000Administrative staff c.189,000 (!!!)

The huge admin staff summarizes all that is wrong with many universities today.

If you were to list adjusted by size of the university, it would be hard to top Caltech. #19 on the list, but "only" 2200 students and under 300 fulltime professorial staff.

LOL -- and on that note, let's all skip on over to news of Eagle Mountain Church and Kenneth Copeland Ministries, where their pro-faith-healing and anti-medicine gospel resulted in the biggest measles outbreak to date in the US:

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